We think videos are an awesome tool to raise awareness about the realities of street harassment. This video is the third in a series. Each video aims to explore a different experience with street harassment. The first video, “10 Hours Walking in NYC as a Woman”, demonstrated the sheer number of times women are harassed in public space. The second video, “My Sexual Assault: On the Train and in The Media”, depicted one survivor’s, Elisa’s, experience with street harassment. This third video encourages us to listen to and believe the experiences of each individual.

Who created this video?

Hollaback! sought out Aden Hakimi to direct this video because of his experience working with a queer filmmaking collective. With Hollaback!’s guidance and feedback, Aden shot and edited the video. He worked closely with Michelle Charles, the supporter in the video, to incorporate her experiences with street harassment into the narrative of the video.

Is Michelle’s experience unique?

The experience of street harassment is different for everyone. Street harassment disproportionately impacts women, people of color, LGBTQ individuals, and young people. These forms of harassment are not just sexist — but also racist and homophobic in nature. For more information on how harassment impacts people differently, please read our guide on street harassment and identity called #harassmentis.

What is street harassment?

Street harassment is a form of sexual harassment that takes place in public spaces. At its core is a power dynamic that constantly reminds historically subordinated groups (women and LGBTQ folks, for example) of their vulnerability to assault in public spaces. Further, it reinforces the ubiquitous sexual objectification of these groups in everyday life. At Hollaback!, we believe that what specifically counts as street harassment is determined by those who experience it. While there is always the classic, “Hey baby, nice tits!”, there are many other forms that go unnoted. If you feel like you have been harassed, HOLLABACK!

So you want to criminalize street harassment, right?

No. We believe that it is our role as advocates to steer policy makers away from measures that would increase criminalization, and toward measures that engage communities in prevention.

Every Day Is Election Day: A Woman’s Guide to Winning Any Office, from the PTA to the White House, written by Hollaback! friend and colleague Rebecca Sive, is available just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, for 30% discount, (in print or e-book) by clicking here http://bit.ly/1v73h1L and using code: Holla30. There is no limit on the number you can order.

What better holiday present than the gift of leadership for you, and for every woman in your life who is dreaming big, and wants to make the world a better place where every woman street-safe. Every one of your friends will appreciate the wisdom of the diverse women leaders nationwide Rebecca interviewed for their inspirational stories and frank guidance on how, you too, can become a powerful public advocate for ending street violence and other dangers women face. They are sure to inspire you to step-up, step-out, and invite all the women in your life to do the same.

Every Day Is Election Day has been widely praised and endorsed and is the authoritative guide for women who want to achieve political leadership and influence public policy. In her no-nonsense, woman-to-woman style, Rebecca offers insider advice for women’s daily lives as candidates, advocates and powerbrokers. She explains how to surmount public barriers, conquer private fears, and run any campaign with humor, confidence, and no apologies. And, she also provides tips from women all over the country who run organizations and are important public and political leaders—for realizing the power of sisterhood, bankrolling oneself, creating an inimitable brand, and getting men to accept a take-charge personality.

To order — as many copies as you’d like — go here and use code Holla30.

P.S. For special pricing (50% off list price), for bulk orders of 25 copies or more for your women’s group, book club, or neighborhood organization, feel free contact: Cynthia Sherry, [email protected].

New York City, NY (30th October, 2014) – When the street harassment video was launched earlier this week, we hoped that it would make an impact but never imagined that it would be viewed more than 15,000,000 times in the first three days. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Many women feel a little less alone and a little more validated in their experiences and we have heard support from our partners, new and old.

Rob Bliss Creative donated time and labor to create this video and support our work. We are grateful for his work and the wide reach that his video has achieved but we feel the need to directly address other responses to the video.

First, we regret the unintended racial bias in the editing of the video that over represents men of color. Although we appreciate Rob’s support, we are committed to showing the complete picture. It is our hope and intention that this video will be the start of a series to demonstrate that the type of harassment we’re concerned about is directed toward women of all races and ethnicities and conducted by an equally diverse population of men.

Hollaback! understands that harassment is a broad problem perpetuated by a diversity of individuals regardless of race. There is no one profile for a harasser and harassment comes in many different forms. Check out our Harassment Is: Identities and Street Harassment guide on how individuals experience harassment differently. This video should have done a better job of representing this knowledge.

There are many more voices to add to this conversation and Hollaback! is committed to continuing to make space for those voices by providing platforms and amplification of people sharing their stories and finding ways to push back.

Second, there has been another problem which deserves further attention: the onslaught of rape and death threats that have been directed at the Shoshana B. Roberts, the subject of the video, are unacceptable but sadly unsurprising. When women are visible in online or offline spaces, they experience harassment. When women demand change, they meet violent demands for their silence.

We understand that violence exists on a spectrum that is played out on the street and online. We understand that it needs to change. We hope that you will work with us to end street harassment and to fight harassment wherever it is found.

Third, the coverage that this video has received shows how far we have come and how far we still have to go. Many outlets have used the video to have conversations about street harassment that would never have happened even five years ago. For many, street harassment is a real problem to be reported as such.

Other coverage, however, shows that sexism still shapes culture in a way that harms women. When journalists on major news networks reinforce, support, and normalize street harassment they minimize the violence and fear that women experience on the street.

We want to thank everyone for participating in this vital dialogue — and we encourage continued conversation and debate.

Our first ever online silent auction has launched! We are so excited to have you #HOLLAbid on all of the goodies we have to offer including yoga classes, jewelry, home baked brownies, public speaking training and much more!

You can make a #HOLLAbid on any number of cool gifts and services while also making an impactful investment in our organization. With the click of a mouse, you can generate both a recreational and social return on your investment in us.

Peruse our site, find some things that you love, and place your #HOLLAbid. The auction is running until Monday, November 3 at midnight EST.

Hollaback! is proud to partner with TrustLaw and DLA Piper to provide an international “Know Your Rights” guide to street harassment. The guide establishes legal definitions of street harassment and provides an outline of local laws governing street harassment. The “Know Your Rights” guide is aimed to inform individuals of their rights in public space.

We’ve received some questions about the guide, and we wanted to take a minute to answer them here:

Question: What exactly is street harassment?

Street harassment is a form of sexual harassment that takes place in public spaces. It exists on a spectrum including “catcalling” or verbal harassment, stalking, groping, public masturbation, and assault. At its core is a power dynamic that constantly reminds historically subordinated groups (women and LGBTQ folks, for example) of their vulnerability to assault in public spaces. Further, it reinforces the ubiquitous sexual objectification of these groups in everyday life. Street harassment can be sexist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, ableist, sizeist and/or classist. It is an expression of the interlocking and overlapping oppressions we face and it functions as a means to silence our voices and “keep us in our place.” At Hollaback!, we believe that what specifically counts as street harassment is determined by those who experience it. If you’ve experienced street harassment, we’ve got your back!

For the purposes of this guide, street harassment is defined per local laws. For example, in Maryland, United States, one form of street harassment is defined as: “making unwanted or inappropriate sexual comments if it continued after a request to stop.” In Berkeley, United States, street harassment is defined as: “unlawful violence, a credible threat of violence, or a knowing and wilful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose. The course of conduct must be such as would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause substantial emotional distress to the petitioner.”

Question: Who experiences street harassment?

On our site, we primarily receive stories from women and LGBTQ individuals. You can read those stories here (and click the I’ve got your back button to support them).

Since our launch in 2005, Hollaback! has fielded requests from survivors requesting legal information. We have tried to make legal information about street harassment transparent on all our local sites, but oftentimes, this information was either hard to find or required legal expertise to navigate. At the same time, we listened to survivors articulate concerns about police involvement. With this in mind, we sought legal support to create an international guide that provided accessible, locally-based legal information for individuals who have experienced harassment, advocates, and activists around the world.

In December 2013 we partnered with TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global legal pro bono service, to create an international “Know Your Rights” guide to street harassment. Over the next nine months, DLA Piper led a team of law firms and in-house corporate legal teams who worked pro-bono to navigate local laws in fourteen languages and work with our site leaders to learn how laws are implemented on the ground. We are incredibly thankful for the hard work of everyone involved.

Question: What are the goals of the Legal Guide?

The goals of the “Know Your Rights” guide are:

For individuals to know their rights, recognizing that it is their choice to report, and understanding the process of reporting if they choose to do so.

To provide a comprehensive international resource on street harassment and the law

No. We believe that it is our role as advocates to steer policy makers away from measures that would increase criminalization, and toward measures that engage communities in prevention. As explained in Hollaback!’s article by Deputy Director, Debjani Roy, “Criminalizing verbal harassment and unwanted gestures is neither the final goal nor the ultimate solution to this problem and can, in fact, inadvertently work against the growth of an inclusive anti-harassment movement. The criminal justice system disproportionately targets and affects low-income communities and communities of color, as evidenced by policies such as New York City’s Stop and Frisk program and other degrading forms of racial profiling. Our objective is to address and shift cultural and social dialogues and attitudes of patriarchy that purport street harassment as simply the price you pay for being a woman or being LGBTQ. It is not to re-victimize men already discriminated against by the system.”

Question: I don’t feel safe working with the legal system. Are there any options in this guide for me?

The purpose of this guide is to educate and inform individuals about their rights. We understand that there are many reasons why individuals might not feel comfortable accessing legal recourse when harassed. This guide is not meant to act as an endorsement of any single solution, but as an option.

What is important is that you feel supported and know that you are not alone. We encourage you to share your story on our website: ihollaback.org, speak to your friends, and practice self care.

Regardless of what you choose to do, it is always important to know what your rights are.

If you have additional questions, email us at [email protected]. We welcome your feedback and engagement in this conversation as we work together to make the streets safer for everyone.

A new report released today offers the first ever global legal resource on street harassment. Led by NGO Hollaback! and the Thomson Reuters Foundation and coordinated by global law firm DLA Piper, the “Know Your Rights” guide compiles the latest legal definitions and information on all forms of street harassment across 22 countries and in 12 languages. A monumental undertaking, the guide involved the efforts of 11 legal teams working in collaboration around the world.

Check out the guide below – and check out our FAQ for more information. You can download a PDF of the guide here: Street Harassment – Know Your Rights. Photo credit: A woman walks past a building decorated with a pair of eyes in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, February 29, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

Hollaback! Bahamas had major press in the Tribune. Their team met with The College of the Bahamas Student Union to make plans for a Health and Safety Forum, plan a chalk walk, and hold a forum on local Equality bills. They attended a training seminar on CEDAW, attended three education forums held by the Constitutional Commission on the Equality Bills, and attended Parliament last week to see the Equality Bills tabled.

Hollaback! Hamilton‘s site leaders were interviewed for the Hamilton Spectator (article coming out in September). Site leader Jess spoke at the Connect, Engage, Empower: Fostering exchange to support individuals affected by domestic violence.

Hollaback! Boston participated in the Computer Clubhouse Teen Summit at Northeastern University, talking to youth about community organizing. They also held a teen workshop at a local women’s center, and tabled at the War on Women show. Finally, site leader Britni was interviewed for RH Reality Check about counterprotests outside reproductive health clinics.

The videos from #hollarev are here, and they are amazing! Today’s video features some REAL TALK as Rebecca unmasks rape culture and street harassment in her spoken word

“I am tired of hearing blame at girls for being caught out in the rain when there are folks standing out on street corners with garden hoses and super-soakers” – Rebecca, Hollaback! Halifax, at this year’s #hollarev

I am a male and first I want to say I’m really sorry for what you ladies go through. It’s terrible that there are men out there with such blatant disrespect for women. Reading these stories, it sickens me to hear them. I just wanted you to know that at least one man got your back!

This year’s HOLLA::Revolution will feature 12 astounding speakers, comedians, and performers. We can barely contain our excitement at the speaker list so far, and it just keeps getting better! Speakers include Sally Kohn, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh from Stop Telling Women to Smile Soraya Chemaly, and more!

Afterwards, join us for a post-#hollarev celebration down the road at the Cubby Hole.